Monday, July 14, 2014

Military justice caseload statistics (and nonreform) in Uruguay

El País (Montevideo) carries this report on Uruguayan military justice statistics for 2013. Common law crimes are up. On reform, the article notes (rough Google translation):

In 2011, the Executive sent Parliament a bill to reform the Military Penal Code, the main change being that members of the Armed Forces who commit military offenses would be tried in civilian courts and not by their military peers.

These new provisions would be applied by the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) and would mean a change of direction with respect to the areas where the actions of senior officers and ratings are investigated, as the role of the bill.

The idea of the bill was to remove the Supreme Military Court, which is the highest body for such offenses, led by military personnel and situated within the Ministry of National Defense.

However, the idea never prospered and the system currently works properly.